ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Southern Methodist University

EETS7320 Digital Telecommunications Technology.
Information for Fall 2008

Also numbered EETS8320.

Please check here for the latest updates each time you look at this page.
Most Recent Update: 2008, Sunday Aug. 31, 11:00 PM Central Time:

1. NO CLASS SESSION ON Tuesday, September 2. Class sessions will continue from Tuesday Sept. 9. The calendar on this web page has been corrected

2. Lecture 2 slides updated

Please note that the offering of this course is subject to attaining sufficient enrollment (8 students). At least 2 sessions will be held before deciding.

Previous revisions are listed at bottom of this web page in red text.

This course, EETS8320 (also numbered EETS7320) incorporates some elements of the previous EETS8302 and EETS8304 classes, both of which are no longer offered.

IMPORTANT- Immediately read this material and print and fill in the +Student Information Form (if you have not already done so) and return it ON PAPER to the instructor. Bring it to class if you attend the "live" lectures on Tuesday evenings at SMU, or send via mail or via your site educational coordinator. You can also return the completed form as a file attachment to an e-mail addressed to richard.levine@gmail.com Fill in and return this form even if you have sent in a similar form for another course previously. Please read these pages and related course documents. The information here will probably save you time and unnecessary questions during the semester.

EETS8320 Schedule Dates and Downloadable Files
All times and dates are US Central Time Zone

Print the lecture materials in advance and use them as you view the lecture each week. Read the update list at the top of this web page to be sure that you are printing the latest revision for use with the lecture. Updated material is marked with a + sign as the first character of the title. Occasionally we have double updated material, prefixed by ++ in this web page. You are welcome to look at items that are not marked with a + but they are versions used last year or the link does not work yet. I suggest that you view now, but delay printing, materials not marked with a + until the version with the + mark is available, Updated lecture slides and other materials are typically ready not later than the Sunday night preceding the lecture recording date. Updated first Lecture Notes will be posted on this web site not later than Sunday, Aug. 31.
This schedule is subject to revision. Already revised on Sept.1, 2008 to reflect changes due to no class on Sept. 2.

Session	"Live" Record Date	File(s) and (Format Information)	Comments
1	Aug.26	Syllabus +Student Information Form (html) +Term Paper Style sheet +Term Paper Subjects(.rtf ) Bibliography of Telecom Topics +Introduction and Overview ( .ppt )	A historically interesting (but probably not authentic)Western Union 1876 letter may be viewed and/or printed in +.pdf version or in +.rtf version.
--	Sept. 2	NO CLASS SESSION	SMU class rearrangement due to Labor Day holiday

2	Sep. 9	Telephone Set Lecture Slides (.ppt) +Telephone Instrument Schematic (.gif) (or .jpeg format)	. Overview continued., Intro. to the analog Telephone Set. A supplementary note is available to explain why a +positive ground is used for telephone outside plant subscriber wiring.. New for 2004 -- pdf notes with some description of +electromagnetic theory for non-experts. These notes are optional. Print the Telephone Instrument Schematic for use in class.
3	Sep. 16	Sine Waves & dB (.ppt)	Why sine wave measurements and dB are used
4	Sep. 23	Electronics (.ppt)	Review of basic electronics.
5	Sep. 30	Transmission lines (.ppt)	Transmission line basics..
6	Oct. 7	Multiplexing and Channel Banks (.ppt)	Specifics of Primary Rate (T-1 (DS-1), and E-1) and higher rates (e.g. T-3) Channel Banks. Supplementary slides in file 06sMoreMux4.ppt.
7	Oct. 14	Practice Quiz, first 60 minutes of class	One hour practice quiz, not graded, will help preparation for midterm quiz. Also more on channel banks in lecture.
8	Oct. 21	. Midterm Quiz, first 60 minutes of class.	If you will not be in your normal location or time/date for this midterm quiz, notify your site educational coordinator or Mrs. Laurie Reaves Barnett at the SMU EE office, telephone 1 214 768 3108, so copies of the quiz papers will be at the right place and at the right time.
9	Oct. 28	Term Paper Outline Due (via e-mail preferred) Lecture 7 More Multiplex (.ppt)	Graded quizzes returned in class. If not picked up, graded quizzes will be returned by Laurie Reaves using mail or via your site educational coordinators. Technical topics: higher level multiplex formats, physics of Optical Fiber, and notes available in lecture 7supplement +stillmoremux amd on +T-1 Generations
10	Nov. 4	FiberOpatics (.ppt)	Introduction to fiber optics for telecom. Some slides duplicate previous lecture.
11	Nov. 11	To be done (TBD)	TBD
12	Nov. 18	TBD	SONET/SDH optical fiber multiplex. Supplementary download
13	Nov. 25	Voice Coding (.ppt) Information Coding for Transmission (modems) (ppt)	Print the large +International Phonetic Alphabet chart in 4 sections since it is larger than one normal page. It will be used in class. +Alternative smaller IPA chart here . (Optional: For more information about the International Phonetic Association, see the +IPA web page.) Lecture also includes channel coding such as error protection codes.


14	Dec. 2	Digital Telecom Hardware Communication switching (.ppt) Switching Software (ppt)	Computer controlled digital circuit switching, direct memory access, event-driven real-time state machine description of switching. Bonus extra slides on Features & reliability (.ppt). Cellular (.ppt) a survey of 2G and 2.5G digital cellular: primarily GSM/GPRS/EDGE

At the present date, no broadcast is scheduled for this course during the fall semester. Distance learning students will be served via delayed video disks or tapes of the lectures sent to their location for viewing, or via the Internet..
Term papers are due Friday Dec. 5, before 5PM. Dallas area students should turn in the term paper at the Electrical Engineering Department office on the main SMU campus, in the Junkins engineering building (3^rd floor). Send or deliver papers to Mrs. Laurie Reaves Barnett, Distance Education Coordinator in the Electrical Engineering office (3rd floor Junkins). You may turn in the paper in person, via US Mail, via parcel delivery, via AHE-Tager messenger, or other means, providing it arrives in time. Papers that are received after the due date/time will still be graded, but an Incomplete (I) will be posted to your transcript temporarily and the actual grade will not appear on the Registrar's permanent transcript until the paper is graded

Due Dates: For local (Dallas-Ft. Worth area) students the due dates above apply: Term papers due Dec. 5, outlines due via e-mail not later than Oct.21. For distance education students, the due dates are extended by the same number of days involved in viewing taped lectures. For example, if you receive and view the videotaped August 26 lecture 7 days later on Sep. 2, you are allowed 7days delay. Using this permissible delay you may turn in your term paper later than Dec. 5, and we will do our best to grade it and report your grade to the registrar, if possible, to avoid a temporary "Ï" on your transcript..

There is No Required Textbook for this Course
You should read the lecture notes (and print them, if desired, after they are updated for 2008), before the lecture, since they are the only required text material for the course. A good recommended reference most of the topics in this course is the book Digital Telephony by John Bellamy, 3rd Edition, published in the year 2000 by J.Wiley & Sons, New York, ISBN 0-471-34571-7. This book is not required, and no assignments make specific use of it.

Classe and video recording in Junkins building room 203. If you use the Dallas Mapsco map book, see page 35, grid square H. Each Tuesday evening session meets from 6:30PM to 9:20PM and comprises three sessions of 50 minutes each, with two intervening 10 min breaks. There is presently no plan to have an additional main SMU campus videotape class session -- only the live lecture will be offered each Tuesday. If a sufficient number of students want to have an on-campus videotape section because they cannot attend the Tuesday lecture, they must request this from Jim Dees (e-mail: jdees@engr.smu.edu ) of the SMU graduate office. Students who receive the course on videodisk/tape outside Dallas-Ft. Worth each have a different calendar schedule, and their due dates for practice and midterm quiz, outlines, term papers and other items are delayed accordingly as explained in a previous paragraph.
Individual lecture videodisks/tapes are available for a fee. Contact Distance Learning Center ( or see other contact information below) to get individual lectures on videotape. If an insufficient number of students enroll, SMU is not obligated to present the course this semester and, if so, it could be cancelled during the first few weeks. If this occurs, each student will be contacted by the Electrical Engineering department.

File types used in this course for documents.

File Type	File Format Description and Uses
.rtf	.rtf is rich text format, a version of the file containing codes that allow preservation of special formats such as bold and italic, tables with rows and columns,, etc. Rtf files are very big compared to “native” files produced in the format of a particular word processor. The benefits of rtf files are: 1) they work with virtually all word processor software; 2) they can be transmitted via a channel that only handles printable/viewable text. You can paste an rtf file into the body of an e-mail that does not handle html or other formatted text codes, send the e-mail and then extract the rtf paragraphs at the destination and use that extract with any word processor. Download .rtf files directly into most word processors such as MS Word or WordPerfect or Open Office.
.txt	Text (.txt) files can be viewed with most browsers or word processors. Text files consist of only the basic ASCII character codes (or unicode codes in some systems), and do not support bold or italic, for example. Both .rtf and the source text of .html can be viewed/edited in .txt format.
.zip	Zip files are compressed, and load faster over phone lines Download pkunzip.exe to uncompress; example of a command to unzip the file named pptfiew.zip C:\PKUNZIP pptview.zip Three web sites that have programs to de-compress files: powerarchiver.com winzip.com pkware.com The winzip program is typically included with the Windows operating system but if you use it the vendor requests that you pay for it (so-called share ware).
.exe	.exe executable files run under Windows. In most cases you click on the file icon to execute (run) this file, which contains a program.
.ppt	.ppt powerpoint files can be viewed using Powerpoint 7.x or better You may also view and print slides using free Powerpoint ver. 7 viewer
.pdf	.pdf Adobe Portable Document Format files use free Acrobat reader software. Adobe Acrobat for PC-Windows/Mac/Unix is at www.adobe.com
File Size	Downloadable Utility Files
1 MB	Download Powerpoint Viewer for Windows (.exe ver. 7 )
490 KB	Download Compressed Powerpoint Viewer (.zip ver.7)
30 KB	Download PKUNZIP.EXE to unzip compressed files (.exe)
5 KB	Download Powerpoint Viewer instructions (.txt)

Directions and Suggestions

To view and print documents for this course, you have several options depending on what computer and software you already have. Here are some choices for IBM-PC compatible, Macintosh and Linux computers:

Microsoft Word .doc and .rtf Files

If you have Microsoft Word, or Word Perfect, you can download files which are MS Word documents and then view and print them using your own software. You can change the file using Word or Word Perfect, but please remember that the material is copyright and should be used only for this course. Files in .rtf format are normally useable by Microsoft Word (most versions), Word Perfect (most versions), Open Office and most other word processing programs which run under Windows. If you have a computer or an operating system that cannot support Word or Word Perfect, please advise the instructor by noting this on your student information form and sending an e-mail message as well.

Microsoft PowerPoint Files

If you have MS Power Point software in your computer, you can download the files having a .ppt extension with the file name, and then view them in either the “slide” or "notes pages" format. You can even change or edit them, but please keep in mind that the course material is copyright and should only be used for this course. It is also possible to view them even if you do not have MS Power Point. You can download the free PowerPoint viewer software from the site indicated and then you will be able to view and print MS PowerPoint files (but not edit or modify them). Some of the MS Power Point files have extensive notes, and should be printed in the "notes page" format for your benefit. Others do not have notes, and should be printed in the "handout" format. This is usually stated on the first slide, but if you are not sure, examine the pages on the screen in "notes" format to find if there are notes as well as a slide on some pages. For slide format, we recommend using 2 slides per page in the handout format, for best legibility. If you have a computer or an operating system that cannot support Power Point or the Power Point Viewer software, please advise the instructor by noting this on your student information form and sending an e-mail message as well.

For some power point slide presentations, a "build" approach on the slides will require you to repeatedly click the mouse button for each item in the slide to appear. If a slide comes up blank or with just a title at the top, this is likely to be the case.

Gif and JPEG Image Files

Some documents have been scanned and converted into image files in either .gif or .jpeg formats. These documents can be viewed directly in most WWW browsers (e.g., Netscape or Internet Explorer or Mozilla FireFox) and printed directly from the browser as well.

+International Phonetic Alphabet Chart
full version from the IPA website.

Download Utilities to View .ppt and .pdf Documents

Download Powerpoint Viewer for Windows 3.x (.zip format)
requires PKUNZIP.EXE to unzip; shows slides only (not notes)

Download Powerpoint Viewer for Windows 3.x (.exe format)

Download Instructions for Powerpoint Viewer (.zip) (.txt text file)

Download Adobe Acrobat .pdf Viewer for Windows/Mac/UNIX
Adobe Acrobat lets you view & print .pdf notes slides directly
Acrobat runs standalone or integrates with Netscape browsers etc.

Attendance: Because the course is pre-recorded, there will be no attendance taken for students outside the classroom. For the same reason, two-way remote conversations such as questions and answers between the instructor and student are not possible during the class sessions. Students in the SMU Campus classroom should check off their own name on the attendance form available in the classroom before the start of class or during a mid-class break. Attendance does not directly enter into the grade computation for the course, but a lack of attendance in combination with other negative factors is an indication that the student is not making an adequate effort to learn.

Contact Information:

For matters relating to enrollment, late or missing papers such as quizzes, forms, etc. or delivery or quality of video disks or tapes of the course, please contact the administrative assistant(s) at the SMU EE Department:

Name	Telephone	e-mail
Ms. Laurie Reaves Barnett	1 214 768 3108	eede@engr.smu.edu

In the e-mail address above, “eede” stands for “electrical engineering distance education.”

Instructor: Dr. Richard Levine, Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering

The preferred method for messages to the instructor is via the NEW Internet e-mail address: richard.levine@gmail.com If you do not receive a reply to your first Internet message after 4 business days, advise the instructor by other means (telephone, etc.). Once two-way e-mail communication has been established, allow a week for replies in general. Before sending e-mail for which you expect a reply, verify with the computer system manager at your own location that the instructor can reply via a simple REPLY (R) command at the instructor's end. This is important. Many students work at locations which have "fire walls" or other mechanisms which prevent normal replies to e-mail. If a special alternative e-mail address is required to reply or to send e-mail to you from outside your own internal e-mail network, please include this information in the +Student Information Form and in your e-mail.

Before you call the instructor, review the previous paragraphs. If your call is a topic requiring a voice conversation with the instructor, the instructor's office telephone number is 1 (972) 233 4552. Please call between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM US Central Time, if possible. Leave a clear and coherent voice message if a recording machine answers your telephone call. To ensure accuracy, say your name and telephone number twice in the message. Please do not just hang up leaving silence instead of your message.

Sending Paper (Snail) Mail and Documents to Instructor:

Note that all term papers will be turned in by you printed on paper to the SMU EE Department or the instructional location. If you do not attend the live lecture in person, your site educational coordinator should normally do all sending and receiving of quizzes and other documents via mail or TAGER messenger to the SMU EE Department. Only send paper mail directly to the instructor with the prior approval of the instructor. The instructor's office address for US Mail only is: Beta Laboratory, P O Box 836224, Richardson, Texas 75083-6224

Please note that the above address cannot be delivered by non-postal delivery services such as Federal Express, DHL, Emery, UPS, etc. Each year a few student items are sent incorrectly to this post office box and are therefore delayed or lost. Please be sure that your site educational coordinator is aware of this.

FAX: is not currently available, and most cases where fax comes to mind can be achieved better by means of e-mail file attachments. If you have Adobe Acrobat software and a page scanner, you can quickly make a .pdf file that serves the same purpose as a fax page.

Term Papers: First, download and read the two documents Term Paper Style Sheet and Term Paper Subjects listed for the day of the first lecture in the schedule of lectures above.

Most of the grade in this course is based on your term paper. Start to investigate suitable topics for your term paper NOW. Send the instructor a proposal or outline for your term paper, preferably via e-mail, on or before Session 9 date (October 21 for local Dallas-Ft. Worth students). The best way (the instructor can read it with minimal operations) is via e-mail, sent as the body of the message. In most cases, the proposal or outline is approved as stated, but in many cases the instructor will suggest changes ranging from minor to major. In a few cases, a different topic is required! The most frequent reasons for needing a different topic are:

1 The topic proposed is not related closely enough to the subject matter of this course.

2 The subject matter has no published material for the student to research (typically because the proposed subject is too new or is proprietary, trade secret, etc.).

There is no fundamental problem with writing a term paper describing some aspect of your own employment work. However, if your employer requires written advance permission for you to write or publish an external document, it is your own responsibility to obtain this in time for submitting your term paper.

Your term paper must be submitted on paper for grading at the end of the semester. See the Term Paper Style Sheet for further directions. A paper copy permits the instructor to make marginal notes on the pages that require comments or corrections. A graded copy of your term paper will be returned. In a few cases, after grading the term paper, the instructor may request a copy on diskette for archival reasons, or to be posted as a sample on this web page. In such a case, please send the paper in a format compatible with Microsoft Word or Word Perfect or rtf format. Do not compress the file unless necessary to fit on the diskette. If necessary to compress the file for reasons of size, use ZIP file compression.

In some cases, the Instructor will invite the student to rewrite or correct the term paper after an initial grade is given, for the purpose of improving the final grade. If you are not asked about this but are willing to rewrite your paper for an improved grade, please communicate with the instructor after receiving your initial grade.

Sample term papers from past semesters (note that “ancestors” of this course were labeled EE6302, 6304 and 8320). At present only .PDF files (for Adobe Acrobat viewer) are available here. Click on the link word to view or download the file.

Sample Term Paper Title	Comments
+Microwave vs. Infrared Communications by Tina Brown (.pdf file)	Study of Infrared beam communication via air (not fiber optics) as an alternative for microwaves over short distances. Figure on page numbered 20 (physically the 22nd page) does not reproduce in full, but all surrounding text on all pages is OK. Figure shows air ray and ground (reflected) ray between two microwave antennas.
+Low Earth Orbit Satellites: An Overview of the Iridium System by James M. Thomas (.pdf)	Semi-technical overview of the Motorla Iridium LEO satellite system. Due to technical problems, the page numbers and figures in this copy are not correct. Instructor's comments are shown in a distinctive type face in the paper.
+Voice Encoding by Bryan Douglas (.pdf)	Survey of major digital speech coders.
+[telecom] Security and Privacy, by S.C.Roberts (.pdf)	Technology and some legal/political issues concerning encryption
+Digital Subscriber Line Technology, with a Focus on Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line. by Raymond McCurry (.pdf)	Technology and some competitive analysis regarding high bit rate Assymetrical Digital Subscriber Lines